Grand Turk

The 1852 cast-iron lighthouse at the northern tip of Grand Turk — shipped in pieces from England, it guided ships through the Turks Island Passage for over a century. The surrounding ridge has dramatic views.

The capital of the Turks and Caicos — a row of 18th and 19th-century salt merchants' houses along Front Street, painted in Caribbean pastels. Columbus may have made his first landfall here in 1492.

One of the finest dive walls in the Caribbean — the island shelf drops from 15m to over 2,000m in a matter of metres, creating a vertical coral cathedral of sponges, grouper, sharks and eagle rays.

Grand Turk's interior salt ponds are home to a resident flock of Caribbean flamingos — sometimes 20-30 birds feeding in the shallow pink-tinged water. The pond edges are walkable on rough tracks.

The best restaurant on the island — beachfront tables on Duke Street with fresh catch prepared in Turks-Creole style. The grilled lobster tail is the signature dish.

Waterfront restaurant on Front Street with direct views across the Turks Island Passage — fresh conch salad, grilled snapper and the best sunset rum punch on the island.

The Margaritaville at the cruise terminal — rum cocktails, frozen drinks, conch fritters and a spectacular beach. The convenient first stop after disembarkation.

The full Margaritaville experience at the Cruise Center — beach chairs, swim-up bar in the freshwater pool, and a restaurant serving Caribbean fusion food.

Local favourite on the main street — grilled pork ribs, fried plantain and peas-and-rice at local prices, far from the cruise terminal crowd.

The legendary dive bar of Grand Turk — divers, locals and occasional cruise passengers mixing at the counter. The best rum selection on the island.

Beach shack bar at the north end of the island — entirely local crowd, cold Turk's Head beers and soca music.

Swim-up pool bar inside the cruise terminal — frozen cocktails, wristband drinks packages and a 9m waterslide into the sea.

Small local café serving fresh johnnycakes, Caribbean egg sandwiches and locally grown coffee.

The oldest inn in the Turks and Caicos (1840) — a blue-painted colonial building on Front Street, serving afternoon tea and Turks Head beer in equal measure.

The finest beach on Grand Turk — wide white sand in front of the Governor's residence, calm turquoise water, and one of the few beaches in the Caribbean where you routinely see humpback whales offshore in season.

The expansive beach attached to the cruise terminal — white sand, calm water, watersports rentals, beach volleyball and the Margaritaville pool complex.

Wild beach north of the capital — no facilities, no crowds, just powdered-sugar sand and water that shifts between turquoise and ultramarine.

The Grand Turk Wall is rated one of the top 10 dive sites in the world — a vertical coral wall beginning at 15m and dropping to 2,000m, with eagle rays, reef sharks, turtles and massive groupers.

Grand Turk sits directly in the humpback whale migration corridor between their Arctic feeding grounds and Caribbean breeding waters — January through April brings hundreds of whales through the Turks Island Passage.